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Study: 9 simple ways to get more retweets

A recent study by TrackMaven analyzed 1,423 Twitter accounts, 1.7
million tweets and the impact of visuals on Twitter. The Twitter accounts included Fortune 500 companies, big brands, and influencers, says Sabel Harris,
lead marketing maven. The study produced some surprising insights about how to get more retweets.

1. Tweet on Sundays.

The difference between Sunday and the worst day to tweet (Wednesday) is small. On average, Sunday tweets get 0.168 retweets as compared with Wednesday's
0.15 retweets.

2. Tweet between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m.

This is not Earth-shattering news, but the study also revealed that between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. is the least effective time to tweet.

3. Use more hashtags.

According to the report, tweets with five hashtags get an average of 0.301 retweets as compared with 0.116 retweets for tweets with no hashtag. That is
nearly a 300 percent improvement.

I just wonder how anyone could implement 11 hashtags!

4. Position your link 90 percent of the way through the tweet.

I generally add links towards the end of a tweet, and this finding confirms my suspicions regarding impact. Positioning a link 90 percent of the way
through a tweet is most effective with an average of 0.2 retweets.

5. Use pictures.

Including a picture in a tweet means you'll receive 0.404 retweets as opposed to 0.133 retweets when you don't include a picture. This shows visuals are
important-even on Twitter.

6. Implement picture previews.

The introduction of Twitter picture previews (you can see the image without having to click) improves retweets by about 25 percent.

7. Use "retweet," not "RT."

The significance of using the full word "retweet" instead of just "RT" is evident here. Nearly 2.5 retweets happen when you use the full word as opposed to
only 0.17 when you use the shortened version. That is an increase of nearly 1,500 percent!

I suppose this shows that acronyms are a poor use of language.

8. Use exclamation marks.

I'm not a big exclamation mark user on Twitter, but after this revelation I may become one! Nine exclamation marks in a tweet produce an average of 0.484
retweets as compared with 0.15 for none!!!!!!!!!

9. Use uppercase letters.

Using uppercase letters is not a tactic in my Twitter toolbox, but maybe I need to add it. The increase in retweets is almost 550 percent when tweeting in
all uppercase as opposed to just using uppercase letters 0.1 percent of the time.

How about you?

Do you use any of these tactics? Are they effective? Share your insights and stories in the comments.